Should Australia take an open mind to China's Belt Road Initiative?

China's vast Belt Road infrastructure blueprint has unexpectedly been included in the nation's constitution, dramatically ramping up the status of the trillion-dollar plan.

It was one of a suite of measures taken to cement the power of China's president Xi Jingping as the Communist Party Congress wound up this week.

The Australian Government remains wary of the project and had decided not to join the other 68 countries around the world — including New Zealand — which have signed up to President Xi JinPing's signature project.